About the Book
Practice is a little bit like the first rule of Fight Club: Do Not Talk About Fight Club. It's rare for musicians talk much about practice, and even more rare that beginning musicians (of any age) are taught specific practice techniques, strategies, or ways of thinking about this most essential skill. We usually have to work it out for ourselves, alone in a room. This can lead to frustration and lack of progress, or even quitting music altogether. It doesn't have to be that way.
After scouring through hundreds of published research studies on practice, dozens of books, and conducting in-depth interviews with world-class professional musicians and master teachers, Harnum discovered a slew of interesting and useful information about practice he presents in this book.
Musicians who have shared their knowledge about practice with him include some of the best musicians and teachers on the planet: world-class jazz musicians in Chicago and New York, phenomenal classical musicians from the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, and Hong Kong Philharmonic, stellar singer-songwriters, hardworking and well-paid studio musicians, as well as professional musicians from non-Western traditions like West African djembe and Indian classical music. They all have something interesting and useful to say about practice. (Partial list here).
You can get better faster. It's easier than you might suspect.
The Practice of Practice pre-publication sample (coming soon)
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Author statement:
My goal with this book is to combine real-world experience with research on expertise and music practice and then share this using easy-to-understand language and a bit of humor. I'll apply the ideas and theories in practical ways that people, including myself, can actually use in our own practice. Chapters are short and easily digested.
This book will help you become a better musician, help you understand practice and what you can do to get better not only faster, but smarter, and with more enjoyment.
My name is Jonathan Harnum. I’m a practicing musician (30+ years on trumpet, over ten years on guitar, and various other instruments), a teacher with almost 20 years of experience, a PhD candidate of music education at Northwestern University, and I've published 4 other music-related books.
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